Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Government is absolutely committed to the Sláintecare approach to reforming and changing for the better the healthcare system. The point of trying to get all-party agreement on the way forward was that this will take time and will involve a number of different Governments in its delivery. Whoever makes up those Governments, the fact that we now have all-party agreement on the way forward for health reform means, hopefully, that there will be consistency from Government to Government over a period of time. One of the big challenges in health reform has been that different Governments, on coming into office, have changed the policy approach to healthcare, which cannot be reformed in one election cycle. What we have now is an agreed approach to move towards universal health support and provision through Sláintecare and a series of other changes. Some changes will take time, while others can happen quickly.

In terms of the budgeting of healthcare, we have seen a significant increase in the availability of resources from this year to next year and in terms of expenditure since last year. Approximately €1.2 billion in extra funding will be provided next year. Nobody can question the Government commitment to funding a better health service. Nor should anyone question the Government's commitment to adhering to the Sláintecare model. That is the model we will follow. However, we cannot go from A to Z in one year or one budget cycle. This will take incremental change across multiple areas and the maintenance of a reasonable and decent health service through the transition period, which will be extremely challenging. It will deal with everything from increased skills and bed capacity to an increased emphasis on primary care to keep people out of hospital, increased home care and many other areas. We need to ensure the Sláintecare model of universal support ensures that people do not get health provision on the basis of their income levels but as a right or service that the Government wants to deliver through a new model of healthcare. This takes time but all of the trends and policy direction the Government is committing to at present are consistent with the Sláintecare approach.

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